Expression, purification, and characterization of the carboxyl-terminal region of the Na+/H+ exchanger.

The Na+/H+ exchanger is a pH regulatory protein that is responsible for removal of excess intracellular protons in exchange for extracellular Na+. It is a plasma membrane protein with a large cytoplasmic carboxyl terminal domain that regulates activity of the membrane domain. We overexpressed and purified the cytoplasmic domain that was produced in Escherichia coli. This region (516-815 amino acids) was under control of the tac promoter from the plasmid pGEX-KG and was fused with glutathione S-transferase. Upon induction, the fusion protein was principally found in inclusion bodies. Purified inclusion bodies were solubilized and fractionated using preparative SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. To obtain free Na+/H+ exchanger protein the fusion protein was dialyzed against cleavage buffer and cleaved at the thrombin cleavage site between glutathione S-transferase and the Na+/H+ exchanger domain. Free Na+/H+ exchanger protein was obtained by rerunning the sample on preparative gel electrophoresis. The final yield of the purified protein was 2.15 mg protein/L of cell culture. After exhaustive dialysis the secondary structure of the purified protein was assessed using circular dichroism spectroscopy. The results indicated that the protein was 35% alpha-helix, 17% beta-turn, and 48% random coil. They suggest that the cytoplasmic domain is structured and some regions may be compact in nature.     

Potential fishery of Nile perch Lates niloticus Linne (Pisces: Centropomidae) in Nyanza Gulf of Lake Victoria,East Africa

From bottom trawls, Lates niloticus (Lin.) in Nyanza Gulf was observed to have a gulf-wide distribution. Lates dominated the catch at Homa point. Catch rates in kg h^-1 varied from one location to another and from month to month.Its estimated production is 11 000 metric tons, netting about 22 000 000 Kenya shillings (US $2 000 000).Abundance of food items such as freshwater shrimps of the genus Caridina, and Engraulicypris argenteus, have been used as basis for estimating the growth and production of Lates.     

Priming effect in semi-arid soils of northern Ethiopia under different land use types

Biogeochemistry - Input of organic carbon (C) to the soil stimulates soil microbial activity leading to changes in turnover of soil organic matter, a phenomenon referred to as priming effect (PE)....     

Analysis of bacterial communities of three cassava-based traditionally fermented Nigerian foods (abacha,fufu and garri)

Globally, cassava is an important food crop that contributes significantly to food security. In Nigeria, cassava can be traditionally processed into abacha (fermented strips), fufu (submerged-fermented porridge) and garri (solid-state fermented farinated granules) for human consumption. Despite the widespread consumption of these foods, there is a major knowledge gap in understanding their core bacterial diversity. This study, therefore, applied next-generation sequencing of 16S rRNA gene to delineate the bacterial diversity in abacha, fufu and garri. Amplicon sequence variants belonging to nine phyla were present in the three foods. Firmicutes dominated the bacterial community of abacha and fufu, whereas, Proteobacteria was the dominant phylum in garri. At genus level taxa, Lactococcus, Lysinibacillus and Pseudomonas dominated the bacterial community in abacha, fufu and garri, respectively. Other dominant phylotypes reported in the foods belonged to Bacillus, Clostridium sensu stricto (cluster 1), Cupriavidus, Enterobacter, Sphingomonas and Staphylococcus. To the best of our knowledge, Clostridium sensu stricto cluster 1 and Lysinibacillus in fufu, and Brevundimonas, Cupriavidus, Sphingomonas and Strenotrophomomas in garri are reported for the first time. Although some potential pathogenic genera were recorded, the foods contained potentially functional species that could be explored to improve artisanal food production, food security and safeguard consumer health.